As the losses have mounted through 17 games, the demand by fans of the Edmonton Oilers that GM Craig MacTavish DO SOMETHING to change the fortunes of the team have grown louder by the day.

MacTavish gave those fans what they wanted Friday, sending hard-nosed and popular but limited defenseman Ladislav Smid and Olivier Roy down Highway 2 to the Calgary Flames for prospects, MacTavish followed that up by signing Ilya Bryzgalov to a one-year contract.

Yes, Ilya Bryzgalov, the goaltender the Philadelphia Flyers just paid $23 million to not play for them two years after signing him to a ridiculous nine-year contract worth $51 million. Ilya Bryzgalov, the oh-so flakey laugh riot, Knob Hockey hero and dressing room distraction represented by Edmonton agent Ritch Winter. That Ilya Bryzgalov.

With the Oilers floundering at 4-11-2 and staring at an eighth straight year out of the playoffs less than two weeks into November during a season in which MacTavish and new coach Dallas Eakins have over-promised and under-delivered, these aren't the bold moves MacTavish talked about when he took over the chair formerly occupied by Steve Tambellini.

This is desperation on display.

AN UPGRADE?

Make no mistake, Devan Dubnyk left the door wide open for MacTavish to make a deal to address his goaltending – forced his hand, actually – with an absolutely abysmal performance so far this season. That's on him.

The last straw, obviously, came in a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game the Oilers played more than well enough to win. That's been the storyline more than once this season, one repeated often enough that the upgrades MacTavish has made to the roster on paper haven’t translated to the standings. How could MacTavish stand pat?

Fair question, even if dealing from a position of weakness almost never turns out well. But Bryzgalov, now 33 and coming off back-to-back seasons with save percentages of .909 in 2011-12 and .900 in 2012-13? Bryzgalov, whose career save percentage of .913 on good, bad an indifferent teams is a wash with the .911 posted by Dubnyk, including his horrid start to this season and a career spent on a bottom-feeder team?

I'd argue, and did on Twitter, shunting Dubnyk aside is like deciding to trade in your old Ford because it isn't reliable enough, then replacing it with a Lada that's six model years older. In terms of actual performance, I don’t see it as a clear upgrade. Then, there's the flake factor with a player who has had dubious chemistry with teammates in the past.

WHAT'S THE PUNCHLINE?

Bryzgalov, to understate, has some quirks. He's out there. He tends to fill the notepads of reporters -- never a bad thing for those who work the beat – and wear on the patience of teammates. Bryzgalov, you might remember, once compared Edmonton to the North Pole when talking about why Anaheim teammate Chris Pronger might have wanted out of Edmonton.

"He (Pronger) maybe tried to leave here because here in November months is a minus-32," Bryzgalov said in an interview with The Score. "Could you imagine? It’s eight months in a year of snow."

Might Bryzgalov push Dubnyk to be better or even displace him as the starter if he can reverse the slide in his performance of the past two seasons? I think it's unlikely, but it's possible, I suppose. Is it a big gamble? Not really, at least in terms of money, reported to be $1.75 million, or term.

Still, it strikes me as an ill-conceived signing brought on by another season off the rails because it wasn't supposed to unfold like this again. It's a just-do-something -- ANYTHING, dammit -- move. A distinct hint of panic over a plan gone wrong. It's desperation on display.

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I honestly love the Bryzgalov signing. There is little to no risk in a one year deal. The best case scenario is that he comes in and plays well and raises the level of Dubnyk's game. Duby proved before that he could handle having a veteran Russian backup that wasn't exactly the most polished guy off the ice. Worst case scenario is that the guy is a head case that plays as bad as Labarbera has and gives us all something to laugh at while the Oilers slowly die a thousand deaths for yet another season.

Yes its desperation but what exactly are they supposed to do? wait for DD to "find himself"?
and I think Brgy's save percentage is still miles ahead of Labarbera and Dub so where is the hurt?
You having a bad night?

Just think of the elation this fan base would be experiencing right now if Mactavish had just acquired a tough, physical,experienced young NHL mid pairing D-Man with good character.

Now imaging the cost of this acquisition was merely what amounts to Bunz and Pitlick. ON would be on cloud nine. This is what the Flames fans are celebrating today after fleecing the dullards who run the Oilers.

You want to save some cap and contract space? How about not wasting 1.5 million on freakinGREBESHKOV !!

It's as if Lowe and MacT felt their status as the biggest incompetents in hockey was challenged by Garth Snow after the laughable Vanek trade, and came up with this as a response.

The Oilers just got easier to play against.They are supposed to be getting harder to play against.They traded what little heart the have to a divisional rival for cap room.They are again flying by the seat of their pants making rash,bad decisions.

Rookie GM says it all.Rookie coach hurts too.Just a badly run NHL team from the owner on down.

Clearly the price was too high to obtain a #1 goalie by trade. It would've been nice to get Lehner, Gibson, etc, but not at the price I'm sure their gm's are asking. Something had to be done and I'm fine with signing Bryz. 1.75m is a very reasonable, low risk deal.

I've loved Ladi's dedication and sacrifice, but the young guys are knocking at the door, bodies have to move to make room. Was happy to see Brossoit come back in the deal.

The real mistake was when the Oilers actively pursued Labarbera over the summer. My first reaction, that guy is still in the league? Mediocre at best. Bryzgalov is better than him, Dubnyk? Who knows. The best part of this is if the season is lost already anyways. If Bryzgalov is a problem or plays horribly, easy solution : Oilers don't resign him. In the off chance he somehow rediscovers some of his past glory we've stumbled on to a guy who can get us to our next goalie and MacT looks like a genius. It's win-win. Only problem, this should have been done weeks ago.

Maybe after getting bought out, a newly humbled Ilya Bryzgalov comes in and challanges Dubnyk to play better, and he responds. Our season can't get any worse, and signing a player to a one year contract means if it's a failed experiment, just walk away. I liked smid, but he's not the top pairing defenseman we need. IMHO I think we are deep at defense, the ahl call ups have been pretty good. Iit's just too bad they are all 4,5,6 guys. Mac t at least tried here to address the goalie problem, and although this may not be a top 10 NHL goalie, he didn't really give up anything to make it happen.

Larson and Fedun have showed well so far. Grebs is a terrible signing, Belov is a gem and only gonna get better. Laddy was gonna be moved eventually, we have to get to a point where our 5-6 d make less then 3.5 million. He was a top four guy for us but should he be??? I still think Mac T is doing a good job, Eakins is gonna be fine. The blame here goes on management and coaches all the time, It is well past time for the million dollar players to cowboy up and play some f#@%ing hockey.

I love how MacT is just getting criticized by everyone and their dog about Bryzgalov. If I recall correctly everyone in OilersNation including myself was up in arms about our goaltending and how we needed a change,. The Oilers went as far as bringing in Bachman to steal the spotlight between the pipes and nothing worked.

If you want to call this "desperation on display" fine. But if you ask me it would have been A LOT more desperate to overpay another team like Anaheim or Toronto to bring in a goalie and possibly weaken this team more then it already is.

At least MacT did something.... And that something was more then Tambellini ever did.

Btw Bryzgalov is a low risk high reward. If Bryzgalov sucks then see you later we didn't lose anyone over him (unless you consider Smid a salary dump to bring him in but I don't believe that true) if Bryzgalov plays well and wins the Oilers hockey games well I hope all you critics give credit where credit is deserved.

I guess the only thing to do is welcome Bryz, and hope like hell he can win us some games. I hate to see Smid go (especially down the road), but I bid him a farewell. This team left the way it is, with no defensive replacement for Smid is worse than it was Friday morning. MacT can't be finished--something must but be in the works.

Smid was signed for too much loot. His game was rough, but lacked skill. At 2mil a season he would have been a good addition. Alas, he was not.

I liked your will, sir.

What you pyhsically get, from someone with cap space in a rebuild, is a respectable goalie prospect. A need in the org.

Horack for Roy. Oilers drop a goalie (cause the math) prospect and the flames dump a small F prospect. Both RFAs at the end of their ECLs. 50 man list. One year commitment…

Brossoit will determine the winner. Have a seat, grab a beer and enjoy the ride.

In addition, we snatch up Bryz. Colourful. Enigmatic. Blah, blah, blah. What? The goaltending sucks ass right now. What does it hurt? Nothing. Send him down to Cali. Cosmonaut in Cali.... This can only have an on ice up.

Concerning the Eberle to Flyers rumours.... It would take at least Giroux and Coburn to make any sense. A Hemsky, 3rd rounder for Simmonds AND Meszaros would work fine.

Giroux is 25 and entering his prime years. He's outscored Eberle 223-169 since the start of the 2010-11 season. And you think the Flyers -- at the very least -- would have to throw in Coburn for it to make any sense? OK.

Bryzgalov couldn't handle the fans or the media pressure in Philly, you think he can handle it here? How about living in the North Pole now? This guy's a joke and a clown who made his career and money off successful defensive systems of superior teams and has proven that when those systems fail, he can't do any better than Dubnyk is faring right now. I've been linking that stupid video for ages and the fact that we actually signed him just lowered MacT several notches in my 'capable' category.

For the love of this team and what it used to be, I honestly hope the signing works out because if it doesn't it'll just be another domino in the chain of events that's making this organization a true mockery.

With the Oilers goalies posting a league-worst .874 save percentage, down from last year's .917, something had to be done. How many more games can we bear to watch where our goaltending costs us points? The boys have raised their battle level on the road trip and are cutting down on the still too frequent giveaways, but they will never turn this around until they get at least average NHL goaltending, in the .912-.913 range. Bryz will have to start in OKC and should be ready to play in a week or two, which gives Dubnyk time to get his act together.

So, you weren't presenting the trade as one that makes sense for both teams -- that's usually how it works -- you were just putting it out there that Holmgren should let MacT fleece him. Thanks for clarifying.

I'm honestly perplexed by the amount of people who think that this was a decent signing.

2m for a goaltender whose statistics are literally awful barring a couple of decent years (equivalent to Dubnyk's usual numbers!!!) in a highly defensive oriented system implemented by Tippett.

2m for a goaltender a goaltender that has expressed his honest and heartfelt feelings, not to mention disrespect, towards Edmonton and its fans just a few years ago - a sentiment that likely didn't change until he was bought out and started to feel that desperation as the summer went on and realized nobody wanted him.

2m for a goaltender who has previously and publicly thrown his teammates under the bus when he feels they were the real reasons why he let in so many goals.

2m for a goaltender that will make a 3 headed monster of our goaltending situation made even worse if he can't play well. What happens if he sucks, as his previous numbers show that he does? Do we waive him? How many games do we give him if he is sucking? How many does he get as a free pass or is LaBarbera the odd duck out here no matter what?

2m for a goaltender that forced one of our better veteran defensive defenders off to our rivals to the south. We just got smaller, weaker, and easier to play against to make room for him. Hope he can make up for the loss as Smid was one of like two defenders willing to make space for our goaltenders in our crease.

This makes no sense and especially not at that price. If Bryzgalov wanted to prove himself so badly he should have been willing to sign for 1m. We overpaid, we lost a good asset to make room for him, and we can't even say we got an upgrade on LBB much less DD.

Why do people constantly clamour over the financials of a signing? Right now the oilers suck the hind banana whether this deal was for 750k or 45m. Who gives a damn. We won't make the playoffs this season, this move is prolly just to evaluate what we have moving forward.
It's the middle of November and we can say with almost absolute certainty that this team doesn't stand a chance this season. Enjoy the winter months :)

Smid to Calgary sucks. Getting not much for him sucks even more. I have to think there is another deal in the works. I'm waiting a few days before judging the trade to see if anything else happens.

Brysgalov is a total wild card. Nobody knows how he will play. I Imagine he's been a bit humbled by being bought out and not signed until November. Lets hope he comes in with a clear head and with something to prove.

As usual we wait to see how this plays out over the next month. History tells me it will be a disaster. I'm getting tired of complaining about every move this team makes. I'll buy a little hope for now and see how this 6 ring circus plays out.

The desperation of the situation is exceeded only by the fans' impatience (mine included).

For Mact's part in all this, he has been official GM for six months or so and in the weeds waiting for a year before that. He unfortunately inherited a schmoozle in the dressing room and those problems can't be fixed overnight. I give a pass to him to that extent. The axe needs to fall higher up but that is getting to be a stale issue.

The same group that have been clamouring for him to make a move, seem to have become experts in critiquing the latest move. If Eakins gets more of a full and healthy line-up then I think more moves will be less likely right now. If the team starts to show continual improvement then I don't expect to see much player movement until the trade deadline.

I think more improvements need to be made but doing so from a position of relative strength would likely increase the chances of it being successful. I'm more interested in seeing what the team performs like with all hands on deck.

Smid for two prospects................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Sigh......................................................................................................................Someone wake me up when one of three things happen: When MacT triggers a real bold move, KLowe has been dismissed (never?) or we draft 5th overall in June.

Personally I think Smid is no better than a number 6 defenceman with a big contract so I don't mind the deal. He does block a lot of shots but his transition game is horrible which is why Eakins probably gave the green light to get rid of him. Bad contract by tambo. As far as brzgalov, Is this guy in game shape?

The Flyers must have seen something potential wise when they gave Bryzgalov the keys to that Brinks truck. Last season Bryz was very average for a bona fide NHL netminder. However, the three previous seasons he averaged 65 games played, 2.42GAA, .914 and had a total of 21 shutouts.
If we get that player back, MacT is brilliant (fingers crossed)If Bryz can play on his head following his AHL conditioning fit, watch out!!!
I will closely monitor his AHL play.

Bad trade. Not only did MacT give Smid away just to make cap room, but he gave Smid away to a division rival. On top of that, the Oilers' 50 man roster gets further cluttered with mediocre prospects who are highly unlikely to amount to anything. Trading Nick Schultz for a seventh round draft pick would have been a better deal than this one (assuming someone who have taken the other side).

The trade is nothing more than a salary dump. I liked Smid's effort, but he was weak last year and has been worse this year. He'd be a 7th d-man on a good team. We have enough depth to cover it for this year, and it makes room for Klefbom next year.

The Bryz signing definitely comes off as desperate, but when you have the worst goaltending in the league I guess you gotta do something. It's only 1 year so it's low risk. He can't be worse than Dubnyk's been. At lease his interviews will be entertaining.

Another obvious example of terrible upper management in Edmonton. Not only did they not adequately address the goal tending issue in the summer but then they do risky signings like Grebs which leaves them no room to sign a G during the year. Should not have had to of traded one of your regular D to bring in a G no one else would touch with a 10 foot pole. I know it's not spring, but please Katz time to clean house. The embarrassment continues! They've been trying to lose for so long to get top picks, that this all they know how to do now. At least Pocklington held people accountable. What a mess!